By James Moreland
Leesburg, VA
August 14, 2011
For the Washington Running Report

As Michael Wardian was finishing his preparations he had a big grin on his face. He noted that he had just won a 10K but the race was “almost too short.” This year would be his fifth time racing the 20K and he had won the last three years. There were three other submasters in the elite field. Frenchman Philippe Rolly who back in 1999 had won the St. Patrick’s Day 10K in 30:27, well ahead of Wardian’s 30:55 PR. Rolly had dappled in Wardian’s forté winning a fifty miler in 2008 in just over seven hours. Wardian had won the JFK 50 Miler in 2007 in 5:50:34.

Italian Edi Turco loves to run. He told us at the DCRRC Landon Cross Country Saturday night that he looks for a race every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Like Michael he runs fifty plus races a year. Often onlookers wonder if these guys would not be faster with fewer races. Perhaps Wardian might improve on his 14:55 PR, which does seem a little out of touch with his new marathon PR of 2:17:49 set this year. And of course he always maintains, “I love to toe the line.”

Third in that group of mega runners is Karsten Brown of Front Royal. About ten years ago, he was just getting started and trying to quit his clove cigarettes. Now he runs a hundred miles a week and will race close to a thousand miles this year. After falling in one 50K in July he bounced back on August 6 to run fifth overall at the Dahlgren Heritage Rail Trail 50K. The next day he took on the Dog Days Cross Country 8K. Still, more than 75 races already this year and a really busy week of racing, he was not feeling to optimistic about a victory.

Tall and slender with his cap on backwards Wardian stayed right with the 10K leaders as the masses roared down Harrison Street. The next three miles plus are all up hill and the wheat, which was a little soggy from the morning’s rain, would soon get separated from the chaff. Jared Abuya, 34, of Gainesville, VA had the best of the race coming up the final hill alone in a 1:05:50 for the second fastest time ever on the course. Aaron Church set the record in 2006 with 1:04:29. The next runner was Wilson Komen of Washington, DC. The lanky Komen has run sub thirty for a 10K and been ranked number one in the Washington Running Report Running Rankings. Though he loves to run, lately he had not been racing as much. His 1:06:19, the third fastest time for the event, proved he still has his stuff. Wardian floated in next in 1:08:10. It will probably mean he will have to go and find another long race to run. He has scheduled the North Face Endurance Challenge Kansas City 50K on August 27.

The next two runners ran close together and almost did not seem aware they were in a battle. Neither surged, and Matt Logan bested Oberst Enzian by five seconds in 1:10:36 to round out the top five. The top master was hard charging Derik Thomas who always seems to finish near the top. At 45, his 6:02 pace on a very muggy day was marvelous. As Rolly crested the hill in 1:13:45 he did not seem to be aware that Edi Turco was coming up behind him in 1:13:57. But the savvy racers always know where their competition is. Brown rolled in just behind Thomas in 1:15:17 and at least at that point it looked as if he might be considering a day off. By Tuesday we expect to see him back out running the Paul Thurston 4.5 miler at Burke Lake.

For the women, Elena Orlova eschewed the 20K in favor of the 10K. That would have been a battle royale. Orlova had set the submaster record in 2009 in 1:17:34 while finishing second overall, followed by Meghan Ridgley. Last year on the short course (12 miles), Orlova won it all at an identical pace with Lisa Thomas of Vienna, VA less than a minute behind. This year Thomas was being pushed ever so close to the record. Ridgley was again third overall with a very nice 1:19:21. The battle for the gold was not decided until the final meters as Lindsay Wilkins, also of Vienna, clung on tenaciously. Thomas touched down in 1:17:40 with Wilkins five seconds behind. Erin Swain out dueled Sarah Bard for the fourth spot 1:20:35 to 1:20:47.

The 20K event is in its 8th year. This year the two races combined for the second largest crowd behind the perfect weather 2008 event which produced 137 ranked runner times, which is 10% of the field. Normally the course is very hot and the bright sun can whittle down the runners. This year the weekend was wet. The early morning rain cooled the air but left it drenched. There were no new records set in the 10K. In the 20K there were two. Grandmaster DeeDee Loughran, 53, finished ninth overall knocking 35 seconds off her record set in 2008. Right behind her Lanie Smith, 19, of Reston, VA (left) set the new teen standard with 1:26:55 and that was with a 30 second late start.

The 10K race is similar to the fabled Greasey Gooney 10k, the first 5K plus is a winding uphill that gets steeper as you go. When you turn around all but the final hundred meters is downhill ride to the finish. Even the four mile marker was eager to get to the finish line. It ended up about a quarter mile closer to the finish line by the time runners caught up with it. While that made for an awful long fourth mile split, mile five was really, really fast. For those hurrying back to the front of the Tuscarora Mill Restaurant at the finish line, there were no worries. The crew that supports the food and drink know their work. For nearly ten years, they have made a science of producing lots of great snacks and plenty of cold drinks. One runner looked at all the iced drinks and said, “They all have sugar in them.” Yes!!

The race always brings out the elite racers and especially the durable ones. Charging down past mile four the race was not yet decided. Lucinda Smith, 29, of Darnestown, MD had a slim lead but Julia Webb easily had Smith in her sights. They were racing with the top men as well, Smith winning in 37:23. That was one spot behind masters winner John Zimmerman’s 37:18. Webb came in soon after as sixteenth overall in 37:33. Speaking of masters, top ranked master and today’s race director Ray Pugsley said of Elena Orlova’s race, “Once you reach, forty everyone is aware of age.” Peggy Yetman, 43, of Leesburg, VA is nearly back to full form and held off Orlova for third place in 38:15. Orlova, 41, finished in 38:24, the same pace she ran the last two years in the 20K. Melissa Rittenhouse, 35, was next among the seven runners who qualified for the open division of the Runner Rankings.

For the men, everyone said that the winner looked like a kid. Joshua Hardin is a junior at William and Mary. Last year he struggled on the hot and hilly Cascades course in 36:47, finishing second among the five teens in the top six. The year before he was Rookie of the Year, breaking 31 minutes twice with a 30:37 10K best as a freshman. Today, he blasted ahead a prerace favorite Seife Geletu to a crushing 32:23 victory. Geletu’s worse race of the summer had been a 16:04 Run through History 5K overall win. He had won his age group at the prestigious Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K in 25:28. His runner-up finish in 33:18 had some runners eyeing their Garmins. Kevin Shirk was third with a solid 33:44. Top teen Patrick Spahn had run the Twilight 8K in 26:47 (34:01 10K equivalent). At Leesburg, he mustered a 35:47 for sixth overall.

Ronnie Wong and Jim Noone both belong to the 50 Plus Club. Wong turns 65 in September and won his division in 44:57. Noone, 67, easily won his division in 45:45. For the even older, jovial Leesburg resident Terry McCarthy, 76, bested mega racer Bob Gurtler, 76. Gurtler projects to again finish with more than fifty 5Ks and 100 races in a year. Of the 11 men older than 70 in the race, Dixon Hemphill, 86, is the oldest by a decade. Hemphill is still the race director for the popular Goblin Gallop 5K, which is run of the Let Freedom Run 5k course in the fall.

With all the food and drink after the race, some runners were hoping for some beer to fill the classy commemorative pint glasses each runner received in their packet. The race course has changed a few times over the years but after 23 years, the race is still a summer classic.

By Dickson Mercer
Fairfax, VA
July 4, 2011
For the Washington Running Report

In the Lea Gallardo photo above, Laura O’Hara powers to the win with top 40-44 winner Matteo Mainetti on her shoulder and racing legend Alisa Harvey a few strides behind.

Runners in this region say the best way to prepare mentally for a summer race is to expect the absolute worst. In that event, more than 1,500 runners who participated in Capital Running Company’s inaugural Let Freedom Run 5K only had to deal with conditions that were roughly par for a rolling course: Independence Day morning offered overcast skies, temperatures below 80 degrees, and a humidity level which – around here, anyway – would only qualify for the not-so-bad category.

Wearing the No. 1 race bib, Aaron Church, 35, of South Riding, VA set the early pace from the start in Fairfax Corner Shopping Center in Fairfax, VA. The Potomac River Running racing team member proceeded to race head to head with Jordan McDougal, brother of former NCAA champ Josh McDougal, for most of the opening mile. (Although the race itself was new, the roller coaster ride-like course was familiar to those who had run the annual Goblin Gallop.)

By 2K, McDougal, 24, (left) had established a narrow gap he would more or less hold the rest of the way. He won the race in 15:46, with Church only 11 seconds back. Bennett Stackhouse, 27, of Arlington, VA took 3rd in 16:19.

McDougal graduated from Liberty in 2008 and now works for The Running Store in Gainesville, VA. For Let Freedom Run, the store put together a seven-person team that also included McDougal’s wife, Leah.

“You can never be disappointed with a win,” said McDougal, who only recently resumed full-time training following a break from an ultra-filled spring season. He won the 50-miler at the North Face Endurance Challenge in Bear Mountain, NY in May and was second to Matt Woods of Falls Church, VA at June’s 50-mile North Face Endurance Challenge Mid-Atlantic Regional in Washington, DC.

The women’s race was a close one, too. The winner, Laura O’Hara, 31, of Alexandria, VA was running with a pack of men in the final mile when she heard someone cheer for the well-known – not to mention speedy – Alisa Harvey, 45, of Manassas, VA.

“I tried to get on my horse and hold her off,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara won in 18:23. Harvey, the clear-cut taker of the female masters’ crown, clocked 18:29. Jacqueline Gruendel, 36, of Clifton, VA claimed third in 18:44. In photo left, she leads top 45-49 finisher Matt Anderson to the finish.

The Let Freedom Run 5K was O’Hara’s third 5K of the summer and she admitted afterward that she was hoping to run closer to 18 minutes. Still, all things considered, coming as it did at the end of a long holiday weekend, O’Hara said she was happy to pick up the win. Her husband, Dave O’Hara, 35, (below) was fourth overall in 16:44.

Chuck Moeser, 59, of Sterling, VA took the masters title in 17:42, a time that also put him seventh overall.

Numerous runners celebrated the July 4 race – a sendoff to barbecues, parties and fireworks – with red, white, and blue racing uniforms, American flag bandanas, and all sorts of patriotic headbands.

In fact, for some veteran runners, July 4 is the one day they break out what might very well be the finest in old school-meets-patriotic running shorts their collections have to offer.

Racing two weeks shy of his 80th birthday, Larry Dickerson of Burke, VA (325th, 29:13) broke out red, white, and blue shorts he only wears once a year. A runner of nearly 50 years, Dickerson recalled that he got the shorts “somewhere along the line” while a member of Lockheed Martin’s corporate team.

John Carmichael, 49, of South Riding, VA (76th, 22:21) recalled that he picked up his own pair of red, white, and blue racing shorts sometime in the late 1980s. At Let Freedom Run, Carmichael raced alongside numerous friends as well as family, including his 21-year-old nephew, Dave Carmichael of Grantham, NH.

Dave Carmichael was in town to celebrate his grandmother’s 80th birthday, he said. He ran his first race, a marathon, in January.

“I’m passing on the family torch,” said John Carmichael, who was passed by his nephew with two turns to go. “He’s now the best runner in the family.”

Regarding best-runner-in-the-family status, with Dennis and Kathleen Hogan, both 57, the race is still too close to call. The Annandale, VA couple finished their third 5K together today in about 36 minutes. Since mutually deciding to become more active, the Hogans have been entering 5Ks while training together four or five mornings per week.

Perhaps it was the race’s first-timers division that attracted so many new runners. Among them was Eric Korn, 33, who finished his first 5K in 36:41. “Three months ago I could barely run 60 seconds,” he said.

The Harrisonburg, VA resident ran the race with his father, Bill Korn, 66, of Fairfax. His dad, Korn said, ran marathons in 28 states, his 50-state goal eventually disrupted by hip issues. Korn, who got started with a “Couch to 5K” plan, now dreams of picking up the quest where his father left off.

This was the first race in the Capital Running Race Series, which will culminate with the Veterans Day 10K on November 13 and the Jingle All the Way 10K on December 11. Participants can accumulate points for top 10 overall finishes and for placing in the top ten for three masters age group categories, 40-99 – master, 50-99 – grandmaster, & 60-99 – senior. Runners gain additional premium points by finishing in the top ten of division younger than their own.

Combining all three races the awards will go five deep in the open and three deep in the three age groups.

Sponsors for the Let Freedom Run 5K included Mission Springs, a local water company that produces biodegradable bottles; Uncle Julio’s Mexican restaurant, which awarded all racers a $10 gift certificate for race day; Crunch Fitness; Giant; Fairfax Corner, and California Pizza Kitchen.

By James Moreland
Ashburn, VA
June 25, 2011
For the Washington Running Report

Out of the heat of the late spring furnace, the first weekend of summer grew a rose of a day. Late June is certainly warm and sunny as a summer day but with a cool breeze, making the inaugural 5K and 10K races a charm. The course is flat and fast with nearly all of the final mile a gentle downhill swoop to the finish. Nestled just a few yards from busy Leesburg Pike but well off the beaten path where runners saw next to none of the motor vehicles to compete for the domination of roads.

In today’s running world, women are coming out in greater numbers, usually about 60% of the field. More and more the courses are getting tested by runners who have no plans at a glorious tape breaking at the finish. They want to try their stuff surrounded by hundreds of other similar-minded people in a controlled environment.

Ringing in Hope got underway last New Year’s Eve with a 10K and a 3K and had a successful nearly 1000-runner event. For June they followed up the success by lengthening the shorter race to the most popular distance, the 5K.

Both races got underway at the same time and for the first mile of the race, competitors had to guess who was in which event. At Fincastle Road the journey split at a well marked point and the 10K continued on a long and winding road that goes to who knows where. I was not worried about it. I was doing the 5K.

Before the race started the presumptive favorite of the 10K race was Aaron Church. Church(left) had won the submasters title in the Winter Runner Ranking and if anything was getting faster throughout the spring. He was easily recognizable dressed =PR= black with bright white compression leggings. He seemed awfully calm at the start, while nearby Axel Tarnvik was racing his engines ready to blast over the ChronoTrack starting mats.

Tarnvik, 18 (photo below), had come in second overall last week at the Race with Dad 5K in 16:55 just behind Andrew Ciafalia’s 16:47 with Ramsay Wilson, at 39 more than twice his age, pushing him from behind with 17:03. When the Redskins Hogettes led the start with a whistle, Tarnvik took off down the side road in a rush.

The experienced Church must have guessed that he was competing in the 5K and patiently followed right off his heels. Church was coming off an impressive win at the PRR Twilight 4am two weeks earlier in 20:25. In that race he ran through the first two miles a step to the rear of a pack of seven top runners. He polished them all off in time for a leisurely final run to the finish line.

By the time these two runners hit the turn, it had to be clear to both that they would scorch their respective races. Still, both runners keep the afterburners going. Tarnvik jetted to an impressive 16:41 to set the standard on the new course, winning by nearly three minutes. In second place, John Eterno was left to deal with third place Dan Eddy. Eddy, who just turned 60, was almost as old as all of the other three of the top four racers. He sparkled with a rare-for-that-age sub 20:00 to take third.

In the fifth spot was a racer known for his 10K. Bill Stahr had run 78 of them in 2009. He said he decided to run the 5K because he had to get to work earlier today. Speculation was that this was only his second race back from nearly two weeks away from his running addiction. After all he has already run 72 races this year, with 28 5Ks and 24 10Ks before the All Star Break.

The women’s race was more sublime. Masters runner Kathy Hoenig had stolen the Ashburn Village 5k race for the second year in a row back in May with a solid 21:20. Two weeks later she won her age group and was second overall at Herndon Festival 5K in 21:02. She knew she would need a faster time for another triumph.

Karen Haddon, 25, of Aldie, VA (photo left) had that faster time, chasing after the seventh fastest man and winning in 20:56. Hoenig middled her two previous races with a very nice 21:20 to hold off 19-year-old Becca Kassabian for the runner-up spot. Danielle Newcome, 34, was from the fourth different decade, looking real good with her 21:45 placement.

As the crowd looked on with 5K runners continually sweeping in, eyes were pealed for the white socks of Aaron Church. Often slower runners make a courageous charge at the end of their race, looking quite fast. Still, there was no mistaking Church’s loping stride as he eased through and past the late 5K finishers.

He looked a little puzzled when he was urged to sprint to the finish. After all he had this race in the bag by the first mile. Then he saw the clock tick over to 33:02. Sometimes the competition dictates the pace. At the start of the year, he had to push to peel off Robbie Wade to win the winter Ringing in Hope in 32:14 on a similar type of course. Pumped from that, he charged out hard on the mostly cross country Rotary Resolution 10k the next day in an excellent 33:05, just off his event record of 32:49 from 2009. Still he was thumped by the record setting 32:24 run by the spring Runner Rankingschampion, Abiyot Endale.

Today he won by more than a half mile, though well off his planned 5:05 mile pace. Next, Jeff Kuzma, 39, of Sterling came charging through in a very credible 35:49. Third place Frank Spicer, 19, had a battle. With his 37:51 he was just ahead of the third submaster, Rob Meadows, who ran 37:58. Spicer’s dad, also a Frank, turned in a nifty 48:01 for second in his age group, though Reeves Westbrook, 61, (photo left)was the top grandmaster in 46:33. Alan Rider, 75, won his division uncontested in 56:43 but noted that he was ahead of everyone older than 65.

Sarah Bard had just finished fifth at the competitive PRR Twilight 4 mile in 25:41. Today she would not be denied. She was seventh overall, topping the women in a solid 40:24. Melissa Saunders, 19, was the runner-up a quarter mile back in 42:11. After that, the sun was making it a bit warmer and the pace slowed down a bit. Nicole Prietti was third in 46:15. The top master was Brooke Alsamman in 49:17.

Coming in right behind her was Karen Young who turned 43 on the last day of spring. Young matched her 28 5K races with her 28th 10K of the year. Her 79 races leave her just shy of the 82 raced so far by the region’s prolific racing master Ted Poulos (82).

Black Tie catering served snacks on a platter to finishing racers. The huge parking lot has more than enough room for the race to double in size. At the far end of the lot there was a live band and a moon bounce. Awards were given three deep in five year age groups.

By James Moreland
May 29, 2010
Sterling, VA
For the Washington Running Report

This is the weekend for the unofficial start of summer but it had cooled down greatly from Thursday’s 91 degrees. The gnats sticking on your skin told of the searing humidity that runners would soon be basting in. That does not sound for a recipe for a personal record on a two-loop course with rolling hills, long hills, and stairway hills. Before the race we caught up with consensus favorite Aaron Church, 34, of South Riding, VA. Church (in photo) had not run the course before but was in awe of Philippe Rolly’s 2005 30:40 course record. He knew all about Rolly towing to a split second photo finish C.W. Moran, who at age 19 had owned the course record set in 2004 at 32:34. Rolly, the sub masters record holder from 2008 and Ray Pugsley the masters record holder from 2009 were absent. Church smiled and noted that a course record was unlikely. This from a man coming off a 30:55 at the Kaiser Permanente Pike’s Peek 10K just a month ago and a blazing Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10M in 50:52 with a 10K equivalent of 30:36.

By then the announcer was getting runners set to dart under the traditional ladder arch made by the Sterling Fire Department. And they were underway. Church jack rabbitted around the corner quickly and was soon out of sight of the nearly seven hundred finishers. By the mile, he had a 150 meters lead and the race was for second place.

The first mile was deceptively fast. The second fulfilled the axiom of “what goes up…” Still, there is always a large contingency of onlookers and supporters. After a Great spring Mary Beth Chosak was coming off a tough sixth place finish at the Capitol Hill Classic 10K race in 39:54. That same weekend Sarah Bard won it all at the Devotion to Children 4M in 24:48. This meant both racers would be battling most of the way. They were joined by Cathleen Willy for the journey. Nobody else was going to break forty that day as Bard pulled away to win in 39:06.

Humidity, hills, and heat did not seem to affect slim Linda Foley and she wore the de rigueur shades, more for the bugs than the sun. Foley also had a fine spring so far, finishing second at the Devotion to Children 4M in 25:22 but though she won the top masters spot she could not stay as close to Bard finishing fifth overall.

Dee Dee Loughran (accepting her award) already has the fastest 20K and the fastest half marathon not belonging to Joan Benoit Samuelson in 2010 as well as a chart topper at the Kaiser Permanente Pike’s Peek 10K in 40:47. But we are in Virginia and she was looking at the relatively soft 42:01 set by Ecris Williams. It has been hanging around for twenty years. Coming back down the opening stretch on the second loop she knew she was golden and busted the record wide open with a swift 41:23 and seventh overall.

Meanwhile, the trailing pack for the men was composed of four local young men who finished in a clump between 36:45 and 36:48. Patrick Wilson of Potomac Falls took the runner-up spot. Tom Steinbach was the top master in 38:15 for seventh place.

For the grandmasters, it was all Jason Page, 65, of Hamilton, VA in photo below. He is sneaky fast and loves to go out strong. It comes from many years of winning races by taking the lead. After the race it admitted he may have gone out too fast. “I really would have done better with a five mile race,” he lamented. “I ended up slowing to a 7:00 mile for the last mile.” Lucky for him it was a 10K because his best 5M at Germantown two weeks ago in 32:24 is a ways off of John Hosner’s 31:09. But his 40:35 today set aside and excellent 41:11 for the Virginia State record held by Cal Fowler.

Glenn Luttrell, 68, of Winchester, VA was pumped up by his second place age group win. “Soon I will seventy.” That was a tough challenge today as Chan Robbins of Arlington, VA took top honors in 50:53. And what of the 75 and older? This race is great in recognizing five year age groups and going three deep. Still as Terry McCarthy of Leesburg, VA has just turned 75, he knows competing with those young whippersnappers is well-nigh impossible. So he took on Bob Gurtler of The Plains, VA who is 75 and has already raced forty times this year.

At 2.5 miles and again on the second loop at 5.5 miles there was a fire truck sending a fifty foot fountain of water over the roadway to help cool the runners. The second time through what had been mist was more like a river.

After the race there was lots of water, though all of us had a sheen of liquid covering the outside of our bodies already. Bagels and bananas were abundant and the chicken sandwiches were spicy and hot. Giant Foods also handed out some reusable shopping bags with goodies inside.

By James Moreland
Fairfax, VA
May 1, 2011
For the Washington Running Report

Fairfax is home to a number of races throughout the year. Saturday, the inaugural Fairfax CASA 10K got underway less than a mile from the sprawling George Mason University campus. Sunday morning it was time for the 33rd showing of the Patriot’s Cup Corporate Challenge 8K. The event is open to all but the main feature is the spirited competition among the corporations for bragging rights. With much construction on the campus only about half of Patriot’s Circle was open to runners. There are a handful of certified courses to choose from. The race is really very fast though runners are treated to three trips up the hill in front of the Center for the Arts. Gladly, the opening 150 meters is downhill to the Circle. Once on the circuit runners head generally uphill to the 1500 point of the race. They leave the campus and take a long, increasingly down hill road to bend back to the starting area. Hitting the Circle the second time is a little like whiplash as the hill rises up to meet the runners. The trick is to keep grinding away because from three to 4.5 miles is a return to the pleasure cruise section of the course. The third trip up the hill is the final two minutes of the race where adrenaline kicks in to help you hold place.

Last year top ranked sub master Aaron Church won it all in an easy 25:06. So, perhaps Hugh Toland was a little surprised that an opening 5:10 separated him from the field. He cruised home in 26:32 and after the race hardly seemed to have broken into a sweat. The cool morning was perfectly aligned to a runner’s needs, though the skies began to weep as the awards were being announced.

By the time runners headed back to their cars, the heavens were wailing away profusely.

Toland’s team – Joint Strike Fighter – won easily as well with all five of their scoring members in the top 25 overall. They averaged three minutes a runner faster than the second place team lead by second overall Douglas Haines (27:49). He had to work hard the whole trip to best third place Aklilu Wondifraw (28:12).

Last year’s women’s victor Megan Ridgley had won in an excellent 30:12. She was so inspired that the followed week she won the Stop the Silence 8K ahead of every runner – of both sexes. Faith Korbel had finished third overall in 31:52. She improved to a very nifty 31:26 to win the women’s division by three minutes exactly. The competition was fierce in the teams and none of the top finishers was able to pull their team to the top. The next three runners were very close in net time. Betsy Eames was runner-up in 34:26. Amanda Karawchuck got to the line 16 seconds ahead of fourth place Tasha Stryker who finished in 35:00, both had net times of 34:38.

The battle for the fifth spot looked as if it was going to be Pamela Ichord, 50, who had run 36:30 last year. She was on a pace to repeat last year’s time. About mile three, someone yelled out “Way to go Karen!” It might have been a double entendre as only a few strides back were Karen Young, 42, on her 46th race of the year and first of that day and Karen Dickerson who has been wowing racing fans for ten years and she is only 25 now. It was Dickerson who made the move and before mile four she was out of sight and ending for the fifth spot in 35:59. Ichord lost a little ground on the final hill but held off Elizabeth Clor, 32, 36:42 to 36:50 for the next spot, both winning their division. Young, who had complained some about tight muscles after finishing the hilly Fairfax CASA 10K on Saturday, finished one of her fastest 8Ks of the year in 37:00. After accepting her award the insatiable lass drove up to Columbia for a full 5M race and winning her division at the hilly Burleigh Manor course.

After the race the big decision was what kind of sandwich to eat. Too tired to choose, this runner had both the turkey and the ham. You have to love races with great food afterwards. Also as the event took place right by the Center for the Arts building, there was plenty of shelter from the coming storm.